What’s on your radar?

March 12, 2014

What is important to you? What makes you smile or your blood boil or run cold? What’s on your radar? Jobs? Politics? How about your local school district or municipality’s financial situation? Are......

Comments

Christopher

Rabbitrunner, are there shortages? Nope, none reported. "Delivery Charges"? It's gas in a pipe, not like it's being shipped by truck or plane. Oh, NOBODY makes any money off the gas itself? Unless you're saying all of the above not one word of your reply made any sense at all. You must be a utility worker or something.

Rabbitrunner

By regulation a utility company does not make a profit on the price of gas, their profit is generated on the supply side. Another factor you are missing is it does not good to have a massive supply and not have the infrastructure to get it to market. I doubt any pipeline company would have much luck improving the ability to move PA gas into NY and without those improvements or increasing the supply of local gas long stretches of cold weather are going to influence the price of gas.

Christopher

"I doubt it is cut back because of prices, the cold weather has caused an increase in prices and the local utility companies are asking for all the gas that can be put into pipelines." Are you really that naïve!!?Utility companies have ALWAYS manipulated supply and demand to raise prices. If the demand quadrupled but the supply was still more than being used, the price should NOT be effected by the demand. In basic economics, the supply side is a huge factor in that simple equation. If one can manipulate the supply, the pricing takes care of itself. i.e. the gas well at the CCH. With prices so high, it won't pay to use it!!? Makes no sense to me.

Rabbitrunner

Christopher, Every well is different; the decline could be because it was a poor well drilled in a depleted area, how long it has produced, pipeline access issues, or any number of other causes. I doubt it is cut back because of prices, the cold weather has caused an increase in prices and the local utility companies are asking for all the gas that can be put into pipelines. If there are no jobs being created then why is the oil & gas industry so important to the local economy? The rigs have been long gone from here. If we used the same logic all the jobs leave once the drilling and fracing are done, why would we build or improve anything, once the construction is completed the skilled tradesmen leave? Also the correct number for water used in the local vertical wells is 60,000 to 80,000 gallons.

Truthteller

What's on my radar is that American business must be held accountable for destroying manufacturing in America, starting with Reagan's tax cuts that started a juggernaut of handouts to corporate America, and his tariff policies that helped Asian businesses supplant American ones. Corporate America must be held accountable for continuing to reward shareholders and CEO's even while "hardship" is their excuse for laying off workers. It isn't welfare and teachers that are raping and pillaging we the people; it is 100 percent corporations.

Rabbitrunner

Christopher, Range Resources has completion reports for wells posted, rangeresources****, The largest volume of water I saw was 4.2 million and some under 3 million. Absolutely not an insignificant number. The rest of the story is when a well is drilled they need say 5 million gallons, it can be fresh water, or filtered flow back water from a previous well. The next well on the pad reuses the flow back fluid from the first, there may be some additional fresh water required but not 5 million gallons. In NYS all flow back fluid will be required to be flowed directly from the well into steel tanks, there will be absolutely NO fraced water ponds allowed. The anti fracing groups know this, but it does not serve their purpose to admit NY will have the strongest environmental laws in the Country. This is what is so frustrating, everyone is so busy dispelling misleading claims (from both sides of the issue) real concerns don’t get discussed.

Christopher

Rabbitrunner, just what figures are correct for water used? It may not be millions, but it's not a small or insignificant amount, and there ARE LARGE holding ponds of contaminated water throughout fracked areas just waiting for an opportunity to burst.

Christopher

Not fracking, per se, but another good friend CLOSE by has a gas well drilled on their shooting range. At first, it paid out around $1500 a month. Now it's down to $150. Why? No production, gas prices too low, the Gas company is just sitting on it until the price rises, which is what they'll do with wells from Fracking also. Point being, the benefits being touted, especially the money, will not be what people think or say they'll be. The construction/drilling jobs are highly and completely temporary.

joew

Rabbitrunner don't expect Judeye to read that which you post,it didn't originate with the Sierra Club bunch. Heck she still thinks Obamacare(after 31 illegal changes)is great. Her report promised 4 or 5 months ago has yet to materialize.

Rabbitrunner

Judeye, I have to give you credit for persistence, the same sound bites designed to scare people. The reports you are looking at are from States other than New York, take some time and look at the regulations that will be in place in for horizontal wells. The issues you note are addressed. Again in New York State ALL chemicals used are required to be reported. And again you are stating false water information, 10 million gallons not correct and 8 thousand is not correct. Every truck on the road pays road taxes based on the miles they drive in the state and a bond is put in place holding operators responsible for any damages. These are all very easy to verify. You must be a firm believer in “if you tell a story big enough and often enough people will start to believe it”.

Marcia

I agreed with you until you got to the part about fracking. This should not be even considered until the companies tell what chemicals are being used. And just how many jobs do you think will be created? Very few. They bring in people from the outside to do the work, not local people. Besides what Judeye mentioned, the heavy trucks transporting the water and chemicals will destroy the infrastructure, which is hurting so much right now. This is just a bad idea.

Captain

DS- Pelosi's infamous line: "we don't have time to read it" was probably one the dumbest things any pol ever said, and that's pretty significant considering some of the doozies we've heard over the years. Actually, it's a sad testament of the caliber of people who represent us, and these mental midgets are in office at EVERY level.

judeye

Why will they not pass the FRAC ACT? This act would require the EPA to regulate fracking and mandate companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used. yet this bill has been fought..by surprise surprise..the oil and gas industry.

What about the water? Vertical wells (what we have around here) use about 5-8 thousand gallons of water. "fracked" (hydraulic fracturing) wells need 5- 10 MILLION gallons of water. Where will they get this water? What will they do with the toxic water when no longer needed? Injection wells? Like those causing earthquakes?

No we need more information on this type of drilling. Water is too important to risk.

Anyone who does not want more information, are you just listening to the industry who has a dog in the race to get your information?

Not even saying I am against it..I just want more information. It is called an INFORMED DECISION.

judeye

However..."Fracking can be done safely" Would you cite where you got this information?

You must have missed what the consultants that we hired to conduct studies right here had to say:

"A consultant hired by the state Health Department to assist in a review of the health effects of fracking recently published a study that concluded “substantial concerns and major uncertainties” should be resolved before it is expanded nationally.....“For communities near development and production sites the major stressors are air pollutants, ground and surface water contamination, truck tra?c and noise pollution, accidents and malfunctions, and psychosocial stress associated with community change,” wrote Adgate and his two co-authors.Another expert, UCLA professor Richard Jackson, hired by Shah concluded fracking was dangerous and dumped pollution into the atmosphere. State officials have said Adgate and Jackson's work will be included in Shah's

Carlaw

What's on my radar? People who think that being represented by appointed regional boards and commissions is better than being represented by officials elected by the people. Be careful that you don't get what you wish for, even though both parties could come up with better choices at times.

bob1957

wow AN ARTICLE ON THE MARK. Not one word do I disagree with. I had not hear changing Brooks to an urgent care center. If this farce continues we as a community have the long arm of NYS-the NYS Health Department and NYS Comptroller's Office that the little people from Pennsylvania do not know about. Both of these NYS departments have the ability to enter the facilities and start auditing the financials and determine administratively what is going on. Uniquely, NYS has vast and extensive oversight of medical care/hospitals in NYS. I am positive the UPMC is unaware, since they had not one clue about first needing NYS Dept. of Health permission to close LSH. I have never seen such a lack of knowledge from a CEO et, al. but if your not from NYS and do not ask the right questions your probably not a thorough and well operating administrator to begin with.

Christopher

Christopher

A personal friend of mine who lives in the Wilkes Barre area of PA allowed Fracking on his land. The numbers tossed his way were upwards of $6-9,000 per month. When the wells (well?) was done, he started receiving close to $3500 a month. That lasted a bit more than a year, and he's now receiving half that amount. This has occurred within the last 3 years. It makes him more than a tad nervous over what future payments may bring. The construction type jobs are gone, and with a well publicized glut in natural gas, the chance of many of these wells being capped for the future are high. Lakes of toxic water are left behind, as well as a lot of pristine land torn up. A few people, like my friend, still getting some money, but not what was promised and with no long term guarantee. Something to consider.